I know, I know. You've been diligently following exactly where we've hiked each day, and at the end of yesterday, you were like, "Wait, what?? You ended the hike at Latrun, but slept in Messilat Zion???" And then you read today's title and were immediately even more confused, "What?! But you just hiked to Latrun yesterday, didn't you???"
I know. I knoooooow. So crazy, this hike!
So. We had looked at the map each night and at some point realized (well, admitted) that there was no way we would make it all the way to Jerusalem in the time we had before Sabbath (when I'd return to Haifa and then join a tour). We decided that for now we would skip the section from Latrun to Messilat Zion (this also was influenced by where we could find lodging), and that on Day 5 we would hike from Messilat Zion to Tsova.
Day 6 needed to remain from Tsova to Jerusalem both so we could get into town in time for me to get to Haifa before Shabbat, and also because some of K's friends were joining us for that day (yay!), and they needed to get home in time to prep for Shabbat.
So, anyway, we had our plan. Skip to Messilat Zion and continue on from there to Tsova, about 19 kilometers. We knew that would be rough given the rain and mud, but we'd give it our best shot, and we had a few bailout options along the way.
Well. Then people started telling us how that section is actually more rock than mud, and how slippery it is when wet, and we kept thinking about how steep the ascent is, and looking at how our first bailout actually was quite a ways into the day...
And the next morning we woke up listening to the rain coming down unrelentingly. I laid in bed with my eyes closed just pondering what we might do.
Then K suggested we save the nineteen kilometers until later, hoping the weather will be better when we're hiking again in March, and instead catch up the part we skipped yesterday. Brilliant! And *then* she pointed out that...gasp...deep breath...we *could*, if we wanted to, really, it was possible, that we could hike this section backwards - starting from where we awoke and walking north on the trail back to Latrun.
I think it was a big decision for her to even suggest; she's more of a purist than I am, but even I struggled with the idea. (I don't even like the idea of skipping a section and coming back to it later, hiking out of sequence, let alone hiking in the opposite direction.) But emotions aside, it truly was the logical and most reasonable decision. And so we took deep breaths and settled our minds and took the plunge. Well, now that the title of this post is explained, welcome to Day 5. ;)
We left a little before noon when the rain had mostly let up, and at just about noon found our first trail marker. It was a great short walk, down part of the Burma Road. During the 1948 war Jerusalem was cut off from military, as well as food and medical, aid because the one road into Jerusalem from the coast was under severe attacks. So like so many other constructions projects in this land, people just created what they needed. Jewish forces built a road somewhat parallel to highway 1, in secret and working day and night. (Check out the famed Wikipedia for a bit more info and references: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Road_(Israel))
It was cool and surreal to read the signs posted along the way, and envision what the road builders went through to create this way when there was none. Although I must say, one of the most rare sights for us was this:
A dry trail!!! Ooooooo
Just for bits, of course. ;)
This area is quite popular for hiking, and many trails overlap and intersect. One of Israel's favorite pastimes - being outside. :)
We got to Neve Shalom at about 2pm, where we had planned a nice relaxing lunch. Neve Shalom means "Oasis of Peace," referencing Isaiah 32:18. It was established as a cooperative village to serve as an example of how Arabs and Jews can live together in peace.
Wikipedia has a pretty nice article on Neve Shalom, too. It's quite beautiful: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neve_Shalom
Well, we were very happy to visit the village, but sad to find the cafe that K knew about was closed. :-(
We went over to the guest house and found that there was no food available there this late, either. Bummer. But one of the staff called the owner of the pizza place, and he graciously reopened and would deliver a pizza right to us. We figured it would take a bit longer than expected, so we probably would not be out of there by 2:45 like we'd thought. But hey, we were only about an hour from the monastery, and it was open until 5pm.
After wiping off our muddy boots as best we could and visiting the facilities, we sat ourselves down to wait and look over the second half of our trip plans with our new conceptualization of the trail.
An hour or so after we'd arrived we were still not finished with our plans, but nevertheless very anxious for our meal to arrive. Our stomachs were eager, and our watches were doing their best to drag their feet...pizza came just before 4pm, and we scarfed it down faster than I knew was humanly possible, and then up and away back to the trail! (Check out this rock split by deep, persistent roots of this plant!!)
Even though the stop was much longer than we'd planned, and even though that meant we would not get to visit the monastery, the rest of the hike was really lovely. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to have just a short after-lunch stroll. ;)
We were to the monastery by dark and to the bus shortly thereafter. We hopped aboard and head up to Jerusalem for the night. Our trail angel was fantastic; she and her husband and son hiked the trail several years ago as a fundraiser for research on ALS treatments and cures. Her stories were fantastic, the food she served was delicious (though we were still pretty full from the 4pm lunch :-p), and we prepped our packs for the next day, ready to close up this chapter before the weekend.
I know. I knoooooow. So crazy, this hike!
So. We had looked at the map each night and at some point realized (well, admitted) that there was no way we would make it all the way to Jerusalem in the time we had before Sabbath (when I'd return to Haifa and then join a tour). We decided that for now we would skip the section from Latrun to Messilat Zion (this also was influenced by where we could find lodging), and that on Day 5 we would hike from Messilat Zion to Tsova.
Day 6 needed to remain from Tsova to Jerusalem both so we could get into town in time for me to get to Haifa before Shabbat, and also because some of K's friends were joining us for that day (yay!), and they needed to get home in time to prep for Shabbat.
So, anyway, we had our plan. Skip to Messilat Zion and continue on from there to Tsova, about 19 kilometers. We knew that would be rough given the rain and mud, but we'd give it our best shot, and we had a few bailout options along the way.
Well. Then people started telling us how that section is actually more rock than mud, and how slippery it is when wet, and we kept thinking about how steep the ascent is, and looking at how our first bailout actually was quite a ways into the day...
And the next morning we woke up listening to the rain coming down unrelentingly. I laid in bed with my eyes closed just pondering what we might do.
Then K suggested we save the nineteen kilometers until later, hoping the weather will be better when we're hiking again in March, and instead catch up the part we skipped yesterday. Brilliant! And *then* she pointed out that...gasp...deep breath...we *could*, if we wanted to, really, it was possible, that we could hike this section backwards - starting from where we awoke and walking north on the trail back to Latrun.
I think it was a big decision for her to even suggest; she's more of a purist than I am, but even I struggled with the idea. (I don't even like the idea of skipping a section and coming back to it later, hiking out of sequence, let alone hiking in the opposite direction.) But emotions aside, it truly was the logical and most reasonable decision. And so we took deep breaths and settled our minds and took the plunge. Well, now that the title of this post is explained, welcome to Day 5. ;)
We left a little before noon when the rain had mostly let up, and at just about noon found our first trail marker. It was a great short walk, down part of the Burma Road. During the 1948 war Jerusalem was cut off from military, as well as food and medical, aid because the one road into Jerusalem from the coast was under severe attacks. So like so many other constructions projects in this land, people just created what they needed. Jewish forces built a road somewhat parallel to highway 1, in secret and working day and night. (Check out the famed Wikipedia for a bit more info and references: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Road_(Israel))
It was cool and surreal to read the signs posted along the way, and envision what the road builders went through to create this way when there was none. Although I must say, one of the most rare sights for us was this:
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